World News - Brazil’s landless poised to end election truce They threaten to turn against Lula, say he hasn’t done enough in 1st term

From Brazil’s Amazon through arid northeast backlands to the rich cane country of Sao Paulo, some 150,000 families are camped by the roadside ready to resume the fight for a plot of land. Leaders of the Landless Workers Movement have threatened to restart invasions of idle farmland even if Brazil’s working-class president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, wins a second term in Sunday’s run-off election. Land reform highlights the social divide in Latin America’s largest country, the size of continental United States, where nearly half the land belongs to less than 1 percent of landowners. Landless Brazilians complain that Lula hasn’t fulfilled a pledge to settle 400,000 families during his first four-year term. The Landless Workers Movement invaded 180 farms during the first eight months of 2006 before calling an election truce. Between 2003 and 2005 they occupied nearly 750 farms... http://www.msnbc.msn.com

French President Jacques Chirac - due to step down soon - is the latest in a long line of political grandees who have made the most of the trappings of high office. Last weekend I went to an auction at Paris town hall where the authorities were selling off 5,000 bottles of vintage wine from the hospitality cellars. Many of them - now worth around £1,000 a piece - came from the time when Jacques Chirac was mayor, a time when he and his wife Bernadette were in the habit of spending nearly £500 per day on their personal food and drink alone. I called a left-leaning political commentator who is a frequent Chirac-basher and asked her what she thought about his exorbitant spending when mayor. I fully expected her response to contain phrases such as "a disgraceful squandering of tax payers money" or perhaps "a blatant rape of public funds". But what she did say was something quite different. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6087332.stm

Bush signed a bill Thursday authorizing 700 miles of new fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border, hoping to give Republican candidates a pre-election platform for asserting they're tough on illegal immigration. "Unfortunately the United States has not been in complete control of its borders for decades and therefore illegal immigration has been on the rise," Bush said at a signing ceremony. "We have a responsibility to enforce our laws," he said. "We have a responsibility to secure our borders. We take this responsibility serious." He called the fence bill "an important step in our nation's efforts to secure our borders." The centerpiece of Bush's immigration policy, a guest worker program, remains stalled in Congress. And a handful of House Republican are at the brakes, blocking negotiations with the Senate for a bill that includes the president's proposal....http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20061026-105735-2859r.htm

A young man threatened a cab driver with a knife Wednesday night before bursting into a Salem church and setting fires that injured two older women, authorities said. One of the women, identified by a senior pastor as Arlene Anderson, suffered burns on her back and head and was taken to Salem Hospital with injuries that were not considered life threatening. The other woman declined to go to the hospital. The cab driver had a slight neck wound, said Deputy Kevin Rau, spokesman for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. The suspect entered the church at about 7:30 p.m., just as a pastor was inviting those inside to greet each other. The Rev. Sam Miller, the assistant to the pastor, said the man was speaking nonsense and carrying what appeared to be gasoline. ...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11100919/

A wildfire swept through dry brush near Palm Springs early Thursday, threatening homes and businesses and forcing evacuations.The blaze had burned more than 800 acre within its first six hours, and 25 mph wind was quickly spreading the flames, said Becky Luther, a spokeswoman for the Riverside County Fire Department.The fire was burning in a valley with a few scattered ranch homes, but the hamlets of Poppet Ranch and Twin Pines were evacuated along with a juvenile center, Twin Pines Boys Ranch. About 100 homes were ordered evacuated, police said."The biggest concern is if it gets over the hills," Luther said. "That's where all of the homes are."The ground cover is mostly grass and chaparral that burns hot and quick, allowing the fire to spread quickly but with little staying power, Luther said....http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/26/calif.fire.ap/index.html?eref=rss_us

America's elderly enjoy outsized influence in elections because they vote in greater numbers, but this year they've focused their clout on the Iraq war more than traditional concerns such as health and retirement benefits.Poll after poll shows the U.S. war is uppermost in the minds of the gray-haired legions as they help decide whether President George W. Bush's Republican Party will keep control of Congress in the November 7 election. "The war in Iraq; it upsets me terribly. I think we weren't told the truth," said 85-year-old Florence Feinstein, who recently skipped her afternoon card game to discuss Medicare prescription drug benefits with Democratic congressional representatives at a retiree center in Sunrise, Florida. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2607976